When Peter De Villiers was appointed as Springbok coach after Jake White, I decided to back the man. Not because I knew much about him (apart from his success with the Baby Boks), but because I wanted every South African rugby player, no matter the ethnicity, to believe that they had a chance to make the team.
I'm not saying an EQUAL opportunity - just a chance! The reality is that it will take a long time in this country, if ever, that everyone will have an EQUAL opportunity, and in fact there are few countries in the world that can boast this position.
But the appointment of Peter De Villiers brought hope for many South Africans and it's not hard to understand why. I was a big Jake White fan, but no matter what Jake did and no matter how well he did it, it would be difficult, even near impossible, for the majority of South Africans to believe that he wasn't biased in favour of his own ethnicity. I'm not saying that those who judged him were correct, but given the history of this country, in my opinion it is certainly understandable.
Good first impression
So enter the arena Peter De Villiers, a man who could pick a white player without being seen to be a racist, or who could appoint a black player and at the very least have the backing of the majority of the population and the powers that be. The cynics expected wholesale changes, but ironically his survival as coach depended on results and so even he chose almost all of Jake White's players, who were tried and tested, and who he knew would bring him the results that he so desperately needed - a move that in itself endorsed White's achievements.
In the beginning I was impressed by De Villiers' passion for the game. Some of his comments kept us both amused and confused, but at the very least he managed to boggle the minds of the international media, who most of the time were left scratching their heads and totally bewildered, which for me was a good thing.
Adi Jacobs, was a good selection and for a while De Villiers had seemingly dismissed his critics with fairly good results, in particular the win in New Zealand and the demolition of Australia at the end of the Tri-Nations.
But how quickly things can change in rugby and all because the Bulls destroyed the Chiefs and the Stormers came nowhere in this year's Super 14. Common sense for most rugby supporters would have expected De Villiers to question why the Bulls were so dominant and the Stormers so ordinary, and not just the Stormers.
Benefit of the doubt
It seemed obvious to everybody except De Villiers (and maybe Dick Muir) that players like Ruan Pienaar, Schalk Burger, Adi Jacobs, Ricky Januarie, Jean De Villiers and even Francois Steyn were not completely in form for whatever reasons, some because of injury.
To most of us it also seemed obvious that players like Morne Steyn, Heinrich Brussow, Wynand Olivier, Zane Kirchner, and even JP Nel had been hugely instrumental in guiding the Bulls to their Super 14 success. Jaque Fourie from the Lion's had also been outstanding.
But still I gave De Villiers the benefit of the doubt with his selections, as it was obvious that for the first British & Irish Lions test he had chosen to stick with his tried and tested players, and even that to me was understandable.
By default and a blessing, Brussouw was selected because of Burger's injury for the first test and until early in the second half of that game, the Boks reigned supreme. But suddenly I watched in disbelief as Tendai Mtawarira, Bakkies Botha, Henrich Brussow, Victor Matfield, Fourie Du Preez, John Smit and Jean De Villiers were substituted and within minutes the game was turned on its head. It wasn't long before we were staring down the barrel, so to speak.
Poor decision-making
For this moment of madness alone, it's not surprising to me that people are calling for De Villiers' head, and race has nothing to do with it, but because of some poor naïve decision-making on his part, and an apparent touch of arrogance in the way he substituted his full bench within a few minutes and turned the Lions series on its head.
At this point it was obvious to all, except himself, and the Brits, that he had effectively handed over the psychological advantage on a platter to the enemy. Let's face it, I never truly believed that the Lions would win a game against the Boks, and I still don't, but I also didn't expect our own coach to make it so difficult for us to win. Even a Fox Terrier can turn an Alsatian on his heals if his tail is up and he makes enough noise!
Next the disgraceful Schalk Burger eye gouging incident this weekend, when it was obvious to all that Brussouw should have started instead of Burger. Add to that more poor decision making by the coach at substitution time, coupled with yesterday's ranting, all of which is indefensible and certainly not the qualities that should personify someone who by his self admission is a "God-given talent", particularly when he can't even spot a good old fashion eye-gouging in slow motion! I'm not saying I've written De Villiers off completely, but for now I would suggest he keeps his mouth shut and starts to show the talents he so boldly claims to possess!
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Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.